


Speculations Galore

by MaliceManaged



Series: Plans Are For People Who Care [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Gossip, Male-Female Friendship, Pre-Thor (2011), Sneaky Frigga (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 04:45:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19244098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaliceManaged/pseuds/MaliceManaged
Summary: It seems all of Asgard knows Bel and Loki's relationship better than they do. But do they?





	Speculations Galore

**Author's Note:**

> I've been picking at this for months and had about 600 words to show for it. Decided to look at it again and suddenly there's 2k words. I... I dunno, man. I dunno.

    “Did you hear the news?” Maribel said by way of greeting as she walked towards him along the top of the ridge he was leaning against.

 

    Loki eyed her curiously. “What news?”

 

    “We’re getting married!” she replied cheerfully, throwing her arms up and almost toppling off to the side before she managed to catch herself.

 

    His eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “ _Married?_ Is that what they’re going with now?”

 

    “So it would seem.” She reached him and he picked her up by the waist and set her down on the ground before him. “Sometime in the spring, if I heard right.”

 

    “Norns have mercy,” he heaved a frustrated sigh, “I hope my parents do not pay too close a mind to court gossip.”

 

    She snorted amusedly. “If they did; either you’d be dead or we’d already be married.”

 

    He slapped a hand to his forehead. “Of course; I forgot, you are carrying my child.”

 

    “Some father-to-be you are!” she huffed, hands on her hips.

 

    He fell to his knees, grasping her hands and holding them between them. “I can only beg your forgiveness, my love,” he declared melodramatically.

 

    It lasted all of five seconds before they burst out laughing, with her unable to stay upright and dropping to her knees as well. When they managed to stop, they moved to sit on the ground side by side leaning against the ridge, her head on his shoulder.

 

    “You know, as annoying as this can be; I prefer these kinds of rumours,” she spoke up after a while, absently taking one of his hands in her own to toy with his fingers, “They assume we’re already together, as opposed to the other half of them, circling like vultures hoping to catch us at it.”

 

    “It certainly is less invasive, true,” he replied, conjuring one of the many puzzle cubes Frigga had gotten her from her bedchamber and replacing his hand with it. “It is doing no favours to my actual love life, though,” he huffed in annoyance, “Do you how hard it is to find someone worthwhile when everybody thinks you are already taken?”

 

    She raised her head to stare at him blankly. “No. No, I do not.”

 

    He looked down at her and smiled apologetically. “Apropos of nothing; how goes your quest?”

 

    “Aborted,” she replied with a huff, “He got hands-y after the fourth drink.”

 

    “Shall I turn him into a slug?” he asked conversationally.

 

    “Don’t tempt me.”

 

    Loki chuckled then wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a half-hug. “I’m sorry.”

 

    “S’okay,” she replied with a slight shrug, “Always better to know the assholes from the good ones before you get too involved.”

 

    “Too true.”

 

    “How’d it go with What’s-her-face, anyway?” Loki grimaced in response. “That bad?”

 

    “I truly have no idea how her family managed to slip her past mother’s screening process, but it was most definitely to my detriment. To call her a vapid brat is an insult to vapid brats everywhere.”

 

    “Ah, the perks of nobility. Sucks to be you.”

 

    He scoffed and shifted his arm to pull her face closer to his. “Keep that up and I really _will_ marry you and take you down with me.”

 

    “Oh, _hell_ no; get off me!” she cried, bringing a hand up and pushing his face aside, earning a laugh.

 

    Letting her go, he sat back again, prompting her to do the same. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. “I do know someone who has asked after you...”

 

    “Oh?”

 

    “She works with the kitchen staff, and has brought my breakfast on occasion. She asked about the rumour that I was courting you, but you had already accepted Reigar’s invitation.”

 

    “Aw.”

 

    “She might still be interested, though. You should ask.”

 

    Maribel tapped her lips in thought then looked up at him. “What did you think about her?”

 

    Loki breathed a laugh. “She is a palace servant and I have a reputation; do you truly think she would be herself around me? I’m shocked she even approached me about it at all.”

 

    “You’re really not a very good wingman, you know that?”

 

    He rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it time for your lessons?”

 

    Maribel’s eyes widened and she took her phone out of her pocket, glanced at the screen and swore before leaping to her feet, bidding him a hasty good-bye and rushing off back to the palace as he laughed.

 

****

 

    As it turned out, his would-be prospect did not take his rejection very well; raising a fuss and attempting to turn the court against Maribel, who she maintained was the reason for Loki’s lack of interest in her. Granted, the higher positioned ones knew better than to even hint at going against the All-mother’s protégé, but the whole thing still had him putting out metaphorical fires for the better part of a month. Maribel, of course, was completely oblivious to it, though it had largely been by his design. She had other things to worry about that an idiot’s misguided jealousy.

 

    Plus, the less she knew about the situation, the less she could reveal about his revenge against said idiot if asked.

 

    As he dismounted his horse, having just returned from a quick trip to his favoured apothecary in the markets, he noticed the conversation a group of stablehands nearby were having abruptly stopped, and he rolled his eyes, having a fairly good idea what they had been discussing. He pointedly held out the reins with a raised eyebrow and one of them hastily broke away from the group and rushed to tend to his horse. He looked at each of the rest as he passed them and to a one they looked away; as he left the stables, he decided their fear of what he’d do to retaliate would take care of the matter for him.

 

    As he made his way to his chambers to finish his current work, he ran into Maribel. Or rather, _she_ ran into _him,_ and it was only his quick reflexes in wrapping an arm around her waist that saved her from the floor. “How many times must you be told to watch where you are going?”

 

    “All of them,” she replied uncaringly, practically vibrating with excitement as she grabbed hold of his shoulders, “I did it!”

 

    “Did what?” he asked bemusedly, wondering what she had been up to this time and how concerned he should be about it.

 

    _“It!”_ she replied unhelpfully, too lost in her accomplishment to bother with proper explanations, then ducked out of his hold, grabbed his hand and tugged him in the direction she had come from, “Come see!”

 

    “Bel...” he made a token effort to resist, but curiosity had already blown past any defences he might have thought to put up, and he allowed her to lead him.

 

    She took him all the way out to the gardens, and to a greenhouse that Frigga had set aside for her personal use, which was currently filled with dozens upon dozens of orchids of every colour, and he fully understood her excitement. He had snuck off to Midgard some time ago and brought her back a potted white and red orchid to cheer her up, as she’d been feeling a bit down, and she had later expressed curiosity over whether the flowers could be grown on Asgard. Neither Frigga nor the palace gardeners had any idea if it were possible or not, and so it had become a project of hers to find out.

 

    “Impressive,” he praised, earning a delighted grin. He walked up to one and touched its petals – pure black with green spots – then looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

 

    “I may have gotten a tad carried away with the magic...” she admitted, blushing a bit.

 

    He chuckled, shaking his head, and let her lead him around the room, showing off her work and rambling about her process, half of which he didn’t even understand. Green magic was never really his forte. When he finally got her to stop long enough to learn she had predictably worked through lunch on the finishing touches of the Working, he dragged her back out to the gardens and to the private dining area where they often ate with the queen, sending word to the kitchens for some much needed food and glaring at the less than subtle looks they got from the servants who brought it.

 

****

 

    Maribel wasn’t sure what the feast was for. She’d been told, of course, she just couldn’t remember. It hardly mattered, in any case. She ate and drank and made fun of others with Loki until duty took him away to pretend to be interested in another potential match, after which she mingled for a bit before getting bored and wandering outside. A glowing moth caught her attention, and she followed it across the grounds and up into a tree, which was where Loki found her when he finally managed to escape.

 

    “Dare I ask?”

 

    “Moth,” was all she replied.

 

    “Naturally.”

 

    She looked around her for a bit. “Umm... I have a problem...”

 

    “Just the one?”

 

    “Ha.”

 

    “You are stuck, aren’t you?” The silence that met the question was more than telling, and he chuckled then moved to stand under her, holding his arms up towards her. “Come on, then.”

 

    She shifted carefully on the branch she was perched on, making sure the skirts of her dress weren’t caught on anything, then took a breath and jumped down into his waiting arms, clutching him tightly until her feet were safely on the ground again.

 

    He picked a twig out of her hair with a chuckle. “You, my dear, are an absolute disaster.”

 

    “Hey, at least I’m cute,” she joked with a shrug, earning a soft laugh.

 

    “That you are.”

 

    He brushed her hair back from her face with a fond smile and she smiled back, before noticing some movement behind him, and a look of irritation settled on her features. He turned and found a group of Ladies watching them with looks ranging from smugness to disapproval, and he hastily took a step back from Maribel, wondering just how long they had been there.

 

    Maribel, for her part, stepped around him to glare at them. “Don’t you have anything better to do?” she snapped, startling them and sending them scurrying off back inside, “Vultures!”

 

    Loki sighed frustratedly. “Well, that certainly won’t help the rumours.”

 

    “No, it won’t,” she agreed with a huff. There was a heavy silence and she looked up at him, noticing something was clearly on his mind. “What?”

 

    “Bel, I have been... thinking...” At her questioning look he glanced away. “What if... they are right?”

 

    “What do you mean?”

 

    “About... us,” he looked back at her “What if they are right? This has been going on for so long; what if there is something and we are just not seeing it?”

 

    “I mean, they’ve also speculated everything from you abducting me to keep as a pet to me bewitching the entire royal family, so...” she reminded him.

 

    “Well, yes, but...Well, I do care for you.”

 

    “So do I, but it doesn’t really have to mean _that_... Does it?” she asked dubiously.

 

    “But what if it does?” he pressed.

 

    “I don’t know; I never really thought about it.”

 

    “I cannot say I have either, really.”

 

    She frowned, giving it some thought. “Well... I guess... Maybe we should just... kiss?” she suggested uncertainly, “Y’know, just to be sure?”

 

    “Yes; I suppose it would be an easy way to know,” he reluctantly agreed.

 

    They moved closer, facing each other nervously, then he took her face in his hands and leaned down, hesitating a few millimetres from her lips before closing the distance. For a moment neither of them moved, simply pressed their lips together rather awkwardly, then she parted hers and kissed him properly, causing him to reciprocate.

 

    When they parted, they simply looked at each other for a long moment, expressions nearly identical in their anticipation bordering on fear, until finally she broke the silence. “I got absolutely nothing.”

 

    “Oh, thank the Norns!” he breathed out in undisguised relief.

 

    “Nothing?”

 

    He shook his head. “Whatsoever.”

 

    She let out a relieved laugh. “Oh, good!”

 

    “It’s nothing personal,” he quickly added.

 

    “Oh, no, absolutely!”

 

    “We are just-”

 

    “Not that,” she finished for him, and he nodded.

 

    They looked at each other for a moment then laughed, at themselves and the entire situation. “We are utterly ridiculous.”

 

    “Yes, we are,” she agreed. She brushed down her skirts then held out her hand. “Shall we?”

 

    “We shall,” he replied, taking her hand and leading them back inside.

 

    They fell right back into conversation with Thor and his friends, neither paying any heed to whatever gossip was blooming around them this time, or aware of Frigga eyeing them from a distance with a knowing smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment? Pretty please?


End file.
